The new Pembina Trails Collegiate is part of an education and community recreation campus planned to anchor a new suburban neighbourhood currently in development in the southwest quadrant of Winnipeg. The high school shares a bus drop off and playing fields with a new elementary school, concurrently being developed by the Pembina Trails School Division. The school site is adjacent to and contiguous with property that the City of Winnipeg has identified for a future community recreation centre to the west, and the high school itself has been planned to physically connect to this important public amenity to maximize opportunities and share resources.

The high school is planned around a large two storey Student Commons that connects the bus loop on the east side to the student and staff parking on the west. The Commons works to organize the major “community” spaces of the school including the Library, MPR/Gym/Fitness suite, and Canteen while also providing a strong connection to additional learning spaces within the school, and includes an open feature stair that serves all three storeys of the classroom wing. It is designed as an active learning and social hub for the school and as an orientation device within this large community facility. The 4000 s.f. fully glazed, two storey Library which fronts the Commons, opens on to an exterior landscaped courtyard, designed as both a passive social space or as an active outdoor learning classroom. The compact plan organized around the Student Commons and exterior courtyard maximizes the site for other school related requirements, while ensuring that all learning spaces have access to natural light and views. The school is targeting LEED Silver Certification and a fall 2023 opening.